Vidfish lines up blockchain payments

Singapore-based streamer Vidfish has been rolled out into more than 190 territories and is set to launch a blockchain payment system to allow viewers to pay producers directly for content.

The SVoD service, which made its soft launch earlier this year, is backed by Singapore-based media giant Mightcast and offers 12,000 hours of programming from providers such as Hunan Broadcasting Network Mango TV, Jetsen Huashi and Zhejiang Hua Ce Film & TV.

The service is now preparing to set up a blockchain payment scheme to allow users to pay content providers for their TV and movie content, providing immediate revenue and feedback to producers. It will act as an addition to the existing SVoD subscription model.

Amie Hu, co-founder of Vidfish, described the payment mechanism’s launch as “the next step in our development that will bring all the stakeholders of the Vidfish and VUO Coin community together.” Hu added that it would enable users, content providers and celebrities to benefit from the service.

The advertising-free service claims to offer the world’s largest Chinese content library outside of the mainland and says it has secured 150,000 registered users since its soft launch, with the average user spending about 36 minutes per session. It costs around US$3.75 per month.

Vidfish focuses on scripted content covering genres such as comedy, romance, thriller and modern life, with English and other local-language subtitling being added. In-app chat services and offline downloading capabilities are also being made available.

Hu compared the service to “a Chinese-language Netflix” and added that while South-East Asia is the service’s current largest market, the aim is to attract a global audience of one million users by 2019.